By Alexander Villafania
QUEZON CITY, METRO MANILA – Today (June 6) marks the start of school year 2011-2012. Historically, it also marks the start of the Department of Education's (DepEd) K-12 program as even public schools are required to teach Kindergarten.
Here are some important figures that people - most especially parents, teachers, and decision makers - must know about our country’s educational system.
Having some knowledge of this figure should give people a better picture of the things that have been done (and what needs to be done) in the country's educational system.
These figures are culled from the DepEd, the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd)(http://pbed.ph/pages/updates), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)(http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/philippines_statistics.html).
25.7 million – Number of students in elementary and high school who have attended the June 6 school opening
22.05 million – Students in public schools
3.65 million – Students in private schools
15.47 million – Total number of students in elementary (private and public)
7.73 million – Total number of students in high school (private and public)
283,000 – Total number of young people attending via alternative learning systems (ALS)
1.93 million -- Children enrolled in the 'universal' kindergarten program
P207.3 billion – 2011 budget for education, the biggest ever set for the country’s basic education, and 18.5% higher than the previous year.
2.6% -- Percentage of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) that is put in basic education.
7% -- Global budget standard set for basic education coming from a country’s GDP.
94% -- Male literacy rate from 15 to 24 years old (as of 2008)
96% -- Female literacy rate from 15 to 24 years old (as of 2008)
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